Jah Bill: ///I would have to say the average Cuban I met seemed much happier than the average urban dwelling American I have met.////

That's a very important observation you've made! I think Cuban mentality is different from the US/Western mentality due to many different factors: cultural, political, economical, historical and even religious etc. But I totally agree with you. Cubans are usually hospitable and easy going. They love to of ask questions about places in the world they've never seen. Thay are really interested in the outside world while many Western people only care about their jobs, bills, bank accounts etc - just like the robots in the Matrix movie. There's almost no illiteracy in Cuba, unlike on most other Carribean islands. I miss Havanna sometimes and the island still remains a beautiful memory in my mind. The US embargo causes many problems for ordinary people in Cuba but on the other hand the Cuban system is sadly poisoned by extreme corruption that slowly devours the best Achievements of the Cuban Revolution.

jb welda wrote:that Muriel (sp?) boatlift thing was really a royal **** up. we (America) welcomed with open arms all the criminals and insane that castro sent over and we called it a victory. castro called it stupid yanks. I think he was right. it used to be the butt of many jokes around CPUSA which my gal ran the west coast chpt of.

@ least one truly great film has been made thanks to that historical event -

swaby wrote:I think Rico was also born in Cuba. The ties between the 2 countries go back a long way when Jamaicans used to go and help with the cane harvest in Cuba. My wife's family lost an uncle doing such work who was there during the revolution in 1959 and was never heard of again, presumed dead.

Yes of course - Rico Rodriguez sounds very Cuban )

Very interesting facts. I didn't know Jamaicans used to go to Cuba to help with the cane harvest during Batista's rule.

Last edited by Roman on Wed Aug 21, 2013 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.